


Walk Proud

by HarkaSun



Series: 5 Months of Shadowhunters Challenge [5]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Gen, Good Parent Maryse Lightwood, M/M, Magnus Bane Deserves Nice Things, Maryse is Magnus's Mom Now, The One Where Magnus Asks Maryse to Walk Him Down the Aisle, Wedding Planning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:34:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24376588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HarkaSun/pseuds/HarkaSun
Summary: Magnus Bane has never had a maternal figure that he remembers fondly. When he is set to marry Alec, he goes to Maryse in the hopes of asking her to walk him down the aisle at their wedding, determined for her to know how much she means to him.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: 5 Months of Shadowhunters Challenge [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1696138
Comments: 2
Kudos: 87





	Walk Proud

**Author's Note:**

> For izzymalec and permetstu’s 5 months of Shadowhunters Challenge on Tumblr.
> 
> Week 8: Favourite Platonic Relationship  
> ↳ Magnus Bane and Maryse Lightwood (AKA the loving maternal figure Magnus deserves and the redemption arc Maryse earned)

The last time he was here, he experienced one of the worst conversations of his incredibly long life.

Magnus takes a deep breath, lifts his hand and raps his knuckles against the door. The last time he heard a knock upon this door, he had been inside and Alec had been where he was. For a moment, Magnus tries to image what was going through his fiancés mind at that time.

The door opens and Magnus lifts his head. Maryse’s eyes widen. There is a split second of silence in the wake of her shock and Magnus doesn’t know what to say. As it turns out, he doesn’t have to say anything.

“Oh, thank the angel,” she whispers, grabs him and pulls him into a firm hug. “Alec told me you were fine and about the wedding, but… God, not seeing you… I was so worried about you all. About _you_.”

“I’m okay,” says Magnus, letting himself sink into the hug, closing his eyes against the belated terror washing over him. It is just hitting him now that he may have been trapped in Edom for eternity. He inhales a trembling breath, fighting back the sudden onslaught of panic. “I—I’m okay…”

Maryse pulls back slightly, cradles the back of his head. “Come inside, okay? I’ll make you some tea.”

Magnus nods, allows her to lead him into the store of books and antiques. It looks just the same as he remembers, warm lighting and cluttered objects upon old shelves. He sits at the table, muddling through his thoughts and his goals. The wedding is in six hours. He knows he has to ask this.

Maryse sets a mug of tea in front of him. Magnus thanks her, but doesn’t touch it.

“Maryse,” he begins, forces himself to breathe steadily. “I know this is short notice, but I was hoping that you might… You might consider helping me with the wedding?”

Maryse nods, sits in the chair adjacent to his own and reaches forward to touch his wrist. “Of course, you don’t need to be hesitant about this. I’m here for whatever you need.”

Magnus swallows hard, ducks his gaze. “Maryse, I… I never had a real maternal figure that I can remember. It’s been over seven hundred years since my mother…” He sighs and hesitantly meets her sympathetic gaze. “You’ve been so good to me. You’re the reason Alec and I are even back together. The reason this is happening…”

“Magnus,” says Maryse. “I was awful to you. To both of you.”

“It got better,” says Magnus, taking a deep breath. “I’m just going to get right into it and I understand if you don’t want to, but I—I would be so grateful if you would… if you would consider… walking me down the aisle.”

Maryse narrows her eyes, pushing herself up and Magnus rises to meet her, swallows hard against the lump in his throat. The trepidation is knocked from him in a shaky breath as Maryse envelopes him in a tight hug. Magnus lifts his arms around her waist, embracing her in return.

“Are you sure?” Maryse asks gently into his ear. “There are so many good people in your life who love you so much.”

“But you saved me,” he says, swallowing back tears. “You saved Alec and I.”

Maryse sighs, turns his head to press a chaste kiss to Magnus’s temple. “Then of course,” she murmurs, pulls back enough to look at Magnus, but still able to keep her hands upon his shoulders. “Of course I’ll walk you down the aisle.”

She wiped her hands to her cheeks, brushing away unshed tears.

Magnus smiles lightly. “Thank you.”

He says it again six hours later, when Maryse presses a kiss to his cheek, leaves him at the end of the aisle. It is more mouthed than spoken, but the sentiment rings clear. She made good on her vow to walk him into his new life with her son, and Magnus is forever grateful.

When he stands up there with Alec in front of him, giving his fiancé a soft nod to let him know that he is ready, he knows Maryse is watching. He knows that she is there for them, for whatever they need. When they say their vows and come together for a short kiss—short because neither of them can stop smiling—Magnus hears Maryse clapping with the rest of them.

When they turn to their friends and their family, joined in hand and in heart, Maryse is wiping away tears from her smiling face. Alec glances to him when they are halfway down the aisle and Magnus smiles, sending up a final flourish of petals. Marrying Alec feels right. It feels like home.

After so, so many years with no one, with simply pretending he could be more than what he was, that he could be a guidance to those who were lost, a father to those abandoned. He never had a family, not truly. When Maryse hugs him at the reception, kisses his cheek through tears, holding him like she is never going to let go, Magnus lets the tears come to his own eyes.

“Maryse,” he tries to say and it comes choked.

Maryse shakes her head, takes his face in her hands to pull out of the hug, holding him lightly. “You can call me mom,” she says, swallows hard, “if you want to. I understand if you don’t.”

The tear that escapes it hot and ticklish and Magnus exhales a shaky breath through a tearful smile, nods quickly. Maryse is hugging him again. Magnus sinks into it, breathing slow against her shoulder, tightening his arms around her back when she pulls him in close.

“Mom,” he says in a whisper, closes his eyes. “Thank you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Link to the tumblr post of this fic: https://harkasun.tumblr.com/post/619249795746463744/walk-proud


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